Emotion and Adaptation

This report builds on a highly valued predecessor, the 1994 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report entitled Reducing Risks for Mental Disorders: Frontiers for Preventive Intervention Research. That report provided the basis for understanding prevention science, elucidating its then-existing research base, and contemplating where it should go in the future. This report documents that an increasing number of mental, emotional, and behavioral problems in young people are in fact preventable. The proverbial ounce of prevention will indeed be worth a pound of cure: effectively applying the evidence-based prevention interventions at hand could potentially save billions of dollars in associated costs by avoiding or tempering these disorders in many individuals. Furthermore, devoting significantly greater resources to research on even more effective prevention and promotion efforts, and then reliably implementing the findings of such research, could substantially diminish the human and economic toll.

Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress and Possibilities

Despite a growing body of epidemiological evidence in recent years documenting the health impacts of racism, the cumulative evidence base has yet to be synthesized in a comprehensive meta-analysis focused specifically on racism as a determinant of health. This meta-analysis reviewed the literature focusing on the relationship between reported racism and mental and physical health outcomes. Data from 293 studies reported in 333 articles published between 1983 and 2013, and conducted predominately in the U.S., were analysed using random effects models and mean weighted effect sizes. Racism was associated with poorer mental health (negative mental health: r = -.23, 95% CI [-.24,-.21], k = 227; positive mental health: r = -.13, 95% CI [-.16,-.10], k = 113), including depression, anxiety, psychological stress and various other outcomes. Racism was also associated with poorer general health (r = -.13 (95% CI [-.18,-.09], k = 30), and poorer physical health (r = -.09, 95% CI [-.12,-.06], k = 50). Moderation effects were found for some outcomes with regard to study and exposure characteristics. Effect sizes of racism on mental health were stronger in cross-sectional compared with longitudinal data and in non-representative samples compared with representative samples. Age, sex, birthplace and education level did not moderate the effects of racism on health. Ethnicity significantly moderated the effect of racism on negative mental health and physical health: the association between racism and negative mental health was significantly stronger for Asian American and Latino(a) American participants compared with African American participants, and the association between racism and physical health was significantly stronger for Latino(a) American participants compared with African American participants. Protocol PROSPERO registration number: CRD42013005464.

/pdf/racism-as-a-determinant-of-health-a-systematic-review-and-5b9bfaoy6w.pdf

Racism as a Determinant of Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Why do girls tend to earn better grades in school than boys? Why are men still far more likely than women to earn degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics? And why are men on average more likely to be injured in accidents and fights than women? These and many other questions are the subject of both informal investigation in the media and formal investigation in academic and scientific circles. In his landmark book "Male, Female: The Evolution of Human Sex Differences", author David Geary provided the first comprehensive evolutionary model to explain human sex differences. Using the principles of sexual selection such as female choice and male-male competition, the author systematically reviewed and discussed the evolution of sex differences and their expression throughout the animal kingdom, as a means of not just describing but explaining the same process in Homo sapiens. Now, over ten years since the first edition, Geary has completed a massive update, expansion and theoretical revision of his classic text. New findings in brain and genetic research inform a wealth of new material, including a new chapter on sex differences in patterns of life history development; expanded coverage of genetic research (e.g. DNA finger printing to determine paternity as related to male-male competition in primates); fatherhood in humans; cross-cultural patterns of sex differences in choosing and competing for mates; and, genetic, hormonal, and socio-cultural influences on the expression of sex differences. Finally, through his motivation to control framework (introduction in the first edition and expanded in "The Origin of Mind", 2005), Geary presents a theoretical bridge linking parenting, mate choices, and competition, with children's development and sex differences in brain and cognition. The result is an even better book than the original - a lively and nuanced application of Darwin's insight to help explain our heritage and our place in the natural world.

Male, Female: The Evolution of Human Sex Differences

Child and adolescent patients may display mental health concerns within some contexts and not others (e.g., home vs. school). Thus, understanding the specific contexts in which patients display concerns may assist mental health professionals in tailoring treatments to patients' needs. Consequently, clinical assessments often include reports from multiple informants who vary in the contexts in which they observe patients' behavior (e.g., patients, parents, teachers). Previous meta-analyses indicate that informants' reports correlate at low-to-moderate magnitudes. However, is it valid to interpret low correspondence among reports as indicating that patients display concerns in some contexts and not others? We meta-analyzed 341 studies published between 1989 and 2014 that reported cross-informant correspondence estimates, and observed low-to-moderate correspondence (mean internalizing: r = .25; mean externalizing: r = .30; mean overall: r = .28). Informant pair, mental health domain, and measurement method moderated magnitudes of correspondence. These robust findings have informed the development of concepts for interpreting multi-informant assessments, allowing researchers to draw specific predictions about the incremental and construct validity of these assessments. In turn, we critically evaluated research on the incremental and construct validity of the multi-informant approach to clinical child and adolescent assessment. In so doing, we identify crucial gaps in knowledge for future research, and provide recommendations for "best practices" in using and interpreting multi-informant assessments in clinical work and research. This article has important implications for developing personalized approaches to clinical assessment, with the goal of informing techniques for tailoring treatments to target the specific contexts where patients display concerns. (PsycINFO Database Record

The validity of the multi-informant approach to assessing child and adolescent mental health.

This chapter shows that fathers and families are embedded in a network of biological and neurological systems, and the biological basis of fathering. There are overall differences in the quantity of involvement for mothers and fathers, and there are important stylistic or qualitative differences as well. Interaction refers to the father’s direct contact with his child through caregiving and shared activities. Availability is a related concept concerning the father’s potential availability for interaction, by virtue of being present or accessible to the child whether direct interaction is occurring. Most attention in the research literature has been devoted to the study of fathers in two-parent intact families. The historical view of the African American father as absent or uninvolved in the lives of their children is no longer valid, and work has corrected the scholarly neglect of this large ethnic minority group.

Fathers and families.

Recognizing the need for a valid and reliable way to measure outcomes of a program to promote multicultural awareness among nursing faculty and students, the authors developed a cultural awareness scale. In the first phase of the study, a scale consisting of 37 items was generated from a literature review on cultural awareness, sensitivity, and competence in nursing. A Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of .91 was obtained from a sample of 72 student nurses. In the second phase, the items were presented to a panel of experts in nursing and culture to determine content validity. A content validity index of .88 was calculated, and the total number of items on the scale was reduced to 36. The scale then was administered to 118 nursing students. Data from the two samples then were combined, and factor analysis was conducted to support construct validity. Cronbach’s alpha for the combined samples was .82.

/pdf/measuring-cultural-awareness-in-nursing-students-3gyqidcwtx.pdf

Measuring cultural awareness in nursing students.

This study focused on the perceptions of discrimination for Chinese American adolescents: how perceptions changed over time, how generational status and acculturation were related to these changes, and whether earlier discrimination experiences were related to subsequent depressive symptomatology. The sample included 309 Chinese American adolescents who participated in a 2 year, three-wave longitudinal study. Findings suggest that perceptions of discrimination became more acute over time for the majority of Chinese American adolescents in our study, that greater initial levels of perceptions of discrimination predicted a slower orientation to U.S. culture, that discrimination was not related to orientation to Chinese culture, and that an increase in perceptions of discrimination was associated with an increase in depressive symptoms. Greater orientation to Chinese culture was also related to fewer depressive symptoms. The findings are discussed in light of the unique cultural context of the study.

Acculturation, discrimination, and depressive symptoms among Chinese American adolescents: a longitudinal study.

This article studied the relations of children’s mental health problems to the warmth of their relationship with their noncustodial father and custodial mother and the level of conflict between the parents. Using a sample of 182 divorcing families, multiple regression was used to test the independent effect of father warmth, mother warmth, and interparental conflict. Results indicated that father warmth and mother warmth were both independently related to lower child-externalizing problems. However, the relations between mother and child warmth and child-internalizing problems were different as a function of interparental conflict and level of warmth with the other parent. Implications for court practices and policies are discussed.

/pdf/effects-of-father-and-mother-parenting-on-children-s-mental-1dkb5kzli5.pdf

Effects of father and mother parenting on children's mental health in high- and low-conflict divorces

The ability of parents to forge harmonious coparenting relationships following divorce is an important predictor of their children's long-term well-being. However, there is no convincing evidence that this relationship can be modified through intervention. A preventive intervention that we developed, Dads for Life (DFL), which targeted noncustodial parents as participants, has previously been shown in a randomized field trial to favorably impact child well-being. We explore here whether it also has an impact on mothers' and fathers' perceptions of coparenting and interparental conflict in the 2 years following divorce. Results of the latent growth curve models we evaluated showed that both mothers and fathers reported less conflict when the father participated in DFL as compared with controls. For the fathers, perceptions of coparenting did not change over time in either the DFL or control conditions. Alternatively, mothers' perceptions of support declined over time in the control group, whereas those whose ex-husbands participated in the DFL program reported significant positive growth change toward healthier coparenting. The positive findings for mothers' reports are particularly compelling because mothers were not the participants, and thus common alternative explanations are ruled out. The DFL intervention, then, offers courts a promising program to improve families' functioning after divorce.

/pdf/effects-of-the-dads-for-life-intervention-on-interparental-4sa99bydtl.pdf

Jeffrey T. Cookston

Papers

Fathers and families.

Measuring cultural awareness in nursing students.

Acculturation, discrimination, and depressive symptoms among Chinese American adolescents: a longitudinal study.

Effects of father and mother parenting on children's mental health in high- and low-conflict divorces

Effects of the Dads for Life Intervention on Interparental Conflict and Coparenting in the Two Years After Divorce